Class action as year 12 queues for a Covid-19 shot

Hundreds of Year 12 students from Covid-19 hotspots in west and southwest Sydney lined up to receive their first Pfizer jabs at a mass vaccination hub on Monday.

Year 12 students patiently await their Pfizer vaccinations at Sydney Olympic Park in the city’s west on Monday. Picture: Getty Images

Hundreds of Year 12 students from Covid-19 hotspots in west and southwest Sydney lined up to receive their first Pfizer jabs at a mass vaccination hub on Monday, but many of the 24,000 spots available have not yet been filled.

The rollout to students has been marred by technical glitches that have seen students waiting on the site for hours unable to book a vaccine and reporting the system has been rejecting their personal information or simply crashing. Eligible students were sent a link to individually register and book in a time for their vaccination after NSW Health last week backflipped on an original proposal to transport students on buses to the Qudos Bank Arena.

Students queuing at the hub on Monday said the program was a sign that things would start getting back to normal and they might be allowed to return to classrooms with their teachers.

“Hopefully, it means we can do the HSC actually at school; when you’re at home and you’re studying, you’re just not motivated to do anything,” said Sienna Jackson, 17, from Nagle College in Blacktown.

“Not seeing people, no human interaction, it’s kind of draining,” said Nicholas Camillo, 17, who ­attends Rouse Hill Anglican College. “We missed out on a lot of things, especially being last year [of school], but it’s all right,” he said. “It’s a bit of a relief for me, like with all the uncertainties and school and stuff like that.”

Most students waiting for the jab agreed that the biggest challenge of studying from home was a lack of motivation.

Parents James and Barbara Kelly, whose twins, Rachel and Evan, attend Leumeah High School, said it had been difficult to motivate their children.

They had an anxious wait outside the vaccination centre after initially being told one of them would be allowed in with their son Evan, who is autistic.

“Even though it said I was allowed to go in as his carer, when I’ve got to the gate, they went ‘No’. His anxiety goes through the roof,” Ms Kelly said

Evan’s twin, Rachel, who also lined up for her first Pfizer jab, said after the most recent lockdown she started worrying whether she would ever complete her HSC.

“The first couple of terms [of Year 12] were all right, but then once we had to go back into lockdown I was very, very stressed about if I would graduate or do my HSC,” she said. “[I’m looking forward to] being face-to-face with teachers and getting to talk to them. And not being over Zoom. Having to learn everything by myself and then having to put it in an exam, it’s just really hard.”